The Illness
by halt-finatic378
Summary: 4 months after Will and Halt return from Skandia, Will gets a horrible sickness, bringing back old memories better left behind in Skandia. Will Halt be able to help Will through this illness? Or will it be to much for both of them? Some language, total Will-whumpage (what else? lol) and it will be long! My first fanfic! R&R plz!
1. Chapter 1

**The Illness -1**

Note**: this story takes place about 4 months after Will gets back from Skandia, and is after the story by Mythowolfs, "Wills Dagger" (on Deviant Art plz just look up "Wills Dagger" it is one of the awesomest fanfics EVER and i wish JF did this instead) instead of the original way Will was rescued. Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, I'm new at this. Also, this is my first fanfic! yay i hope it is ok! Enjoy!**

Brom awkwardly shifted, scratching his back as he did so. His watch was almost up, and he could just feel the warm food that awaited him back at the central watchtower, and being sheltered better than this drafty thing in the wind and rain. He had been sitting in this watchtower for longer than he should be, and he knew it. Not like anyone could have taken over earlier any way, he thought bitterly.

His small village had been ravaged by an unknown illness, causing almost half the population to either be left weak and scarred, or dead. Brom himself had not gotten the illness, and he considered himself lucky.

Suddenly, Brom was snapped out of his daydream by the sight of two men, mounted on little more than ponies, coming up the low slope that led to the village. As they approached, he saw that one looked no more than a mere boy, and a skinny one at that. Brom focused his eyes more, only to see that the older one was carrying a massive longbow, and a cloak covered his body. This uncanny cloak that seemed to shift in and out of focus was also on the smaller person.

Then a realization hit him. These were rangers! He immediately sprung from his seat, ran out of the flimsy tower, and down to the gate master.

This "gate" was by no means large. It was a shaky structure that looked like it could barley take one more year of use, and could easily be destroyed by a bad storm. It was really only there for the feeling of security that it brought to the residents of the village.

"Carik! Rangers! They're coming our way!"

Carik, the gate master, was more than surprised at this statement. The village of Wenham had gotten no visitors once the rumor of sickness there had run throughout most of the countryside.

The gate master considered this, "There are two you say?" he asked curiously.

"Yes! One of them is no more than a boy! An apprentice maybe?"

Carik fingered his long, gray beard thoughtfully. The ranger in his fief, Sadon, did not have an apprentice, and he had gotten no notice that he had taken one. Yet, he thought sadly, he had gotten no notices lately, due to this blasted illness.

"Well, rangers are rangers. I'll let them through. Tell Merek and John to come and open the gates".

"Your not even going to ask them their business sir?" Brom looked quizzically at the gate master. It was unlike Carik to let anyone in, let alone without talking to them first. Carik had a well-known attitude that made him question everything he came across.

"Why the hell would I just let them in without questioning? Do you think I'm dumb? Getting old in my age? Think I will let people run right over me?" he let out this spitfire of questions to Brom without pausing to hold a breath.

"Er…..no…um…sir!" Brom stammered, his eyes wide with fear. Nobody ever wanted to get on Cariks bad side.

Carik sighed and looked out to where Brom said the rangers were heading from.

"It's alright, Brom, just a bit tired, s'all"

Like many others, Carik was sick of this horrible sickness that sucked out the the lives of so many in this town.

Including his wife.

"Get my horse ready, we are going to meet them" Carik ordered Brom.

As he watched the young man stumble away, he got lost in his own thoughts. Why where they here? They were rangers after all. Didnt they know of the illness?

**yeeeeeaah, i know, not so great right? please R&R to let meh know u guys like it, or constructive critisism would be great! Its gonna be a pretty long fanfic, so knowing myself, it will take a long time to finish lol!**


	2. Introduction

The Illness-2

Halt glanced over at his young apprentice, checking, probably for the tenth time, that Will had not fallen, or was hungry, cold, wet, tired…anything. Ever since Will had gotten back from Skandia about four months ago, Halt had been extremely worried about Wills condition.

Although Will had recovered quite nicely in the past months, but he had been plagued with nightmares, sudden flashbacks that left him shaking in fear, and he was constantly tired and emotionally drained. Halt had been as caring and affectionate as a father would be to his son, and Halts and Wills relationship with each other had grown considerably.

Will was nowhere near ranger standards of fit, but he was getting less and less tired, and his nightmares and flashbacks were getting farther and farther apart, thanks to Halts care, and support through this rough time.

Then they had been called to a fief, Stonegate, to take down a band of robbers that had been ruthlessly murdering anyone that came in the way of them and the goods that they have been stealing from farmers and merchants all around the fief. The ranger stationed at Stonegate, Sadon, had gotten injured in a fight with the bandits, and had barely made it to shelter away from the bloodthirsty gang.

Halt had been questioning whether or not to go on this mission, considering Wills current state, and that even a full-fledged ranger had difficulty defeating this case, when Will had piped up rather hotly as Halt had mentioned the technicality with Will,

* * *

"Halt, I can deal with a petty gang of bandits! Don't you remember? We used to do this all the time! I will be fine Halt! Why have you been treating me like I'm so…so helpless! You know how much I've gone through, a little bandit hunting will be fine. I think I'm ready for this Halt." Will said the last phrase with a light in his eyes Halt had not seen in a while, to long a while.

In return Halt argued about the nightmares that often kept Will up at night, and the crippling flashbacks he could have at any moment,

"Do you not remember just two days ago?" Halt questioned Will with a slight hint of sadness in his voice.

Two days ago Will had had one of the worst nightmare he had ever had so far, it had left Will virtually paralyzed in shock the whole night, and had alarmed Halt even more than usual.

For a moment a shadow crossed Wills face, remembering the vivid horror of that night, then it cleared as soon as it came and Will replied briskly,

"For Gods sake Halt! That was just one night! You must admit that my nightmares have been getting better, save the last one."

Will had a point, Halt had to agree, but…

"Will, are you sure you can handle this?" Halt looked strait into Wills eyes, and Will looked strait back.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Halt realized that Will would not give up on this, so he grudgingly complied with his young and adventurous apprentice.

* * *

But still, Halt just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen the whole trip, and after they successfully captured and jailed the criminals, Halt let his guard down, but being Halt, not completely.

Then the weather started getting bad, and accidentally, more than half the food supplies had fallen off Tug as they were crossing a deeper than expected stream. The supplies had been for the 3-4 day trip back to Redmont, and all they had was about a 1, or if they really stretched it, 2 day supply of food and more importantly, coffee.

Halt needed his coffee.

So in turn, the pair decided to drop by a near by village, Wenham, to get some supplies for the way back. On the map, the farming village looked as though it would be capable of giving the two rangers what they needed.

Little did they know about the danger that lied within it.

**DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! lol what do ya think? tell meh! R&R! i dont now about this chapt...cheesy...yes, very cheesy. Aaaanyways, next will be up soon! **

**have a Halt-abulous day/night!**


	3. A conversation

**YAY! chapt 3 now up! this chapter is a little...boring. but trust me! the next one will be better (it includes a certain halt attacking...someone...ehehe) **

"I'm terribly sorry, Ranger, but we simply cannot let you into Wenham for reasons that I cannot allow you to know" Carik, the gate master, said regrettably. Nobody wanted to say such things to a Ranger, much less a legendary one and his equally famous apprentice.

Halt had watched seemingly unemotional as the men who were now barricading the way for him and his apprentice from food, warmth, and coffee stammer in shock that their small village was being visited from such people.

In truth, Halt felt a glow of pride for his courageous apprentice as they urgently whispered amongst themselves 'This is the boy….brought down the bridge…..Will his name is….Morgarath…legends they are….' But soon this was replaced by anger. He had informed them fully on their low supplies, couldn't they see the need for supplies here?

"And why, may I ask, is this? We will pay well, I assure you, no need for such worrying." Halt made it clear in his undertone that he planned on getting an answer, a full answer.

Carik was not worried a bit about them paying or not, all he knew is that if he let them in, and they saw sickness, they would spread the word around. The Ranger Halt had told him they were traveling back to Redmont, a three-day ride if they were quick about it, so the risk was there. The risk of spreading the word. It had been bad enough already most towns knew what dwelled in Wenham, no need more loss of trade. Although….money at this time was scant….maybe, just maybe…

"I must tell you, you must enter at your own risk Ranger, I cannot be held responsible if you….catch something."

"Catch something? And exactly what would I be 'catching' as you say? I am here for supplies and nothing else. I have no need to stay the night or even the rest of this day" Halt replied gruffly, he was getting impatient with this man, why would he be so stubborn?

Carik sighed, he could withhold information no longer, and Rangers weren't the best to argue with in any term

"There has been a horrible illness plaguing our town for the last month or so, horrible it is, sucks the life out of you. More than half our population has either died or is still dealing with the aftermath. The virus seemes to have gone away by now, nobody ahs become sick for some time now. We are the only village affected, strange enough. We don't want it to spread, the word or the actual sickness. Our trade is bad enough as it is."

Halt was slightly taken aback. Illness? More than half the population? This was not to be sneezed at (A/N no pun intended lol). But still, supplies were needed.

"Please, there is no way we can just pay for some food? Coffee maybe? My apprentice is willing to help do physical work if a man is weak from this virus you speak of. All we ask is some supplies."

Will shot Halt a quick look of annoyance, which Halt ignored of course. He was already tired and cold, now this too? Great.

Carik heaved a sigh. If they were willing to….

"I will permit you to enter, but you must speak our village leader Samuel, to negotiate the price and what you will be needing. I will open the gates, I bid you good day Ranger."

And with that he rode on his horse to order the men to open the gates. He couldn't help but feel like he had done something wrong, after all, this town was worse than he had portrayed.

**And yet another...DUN DUN DUUNNNN! this is sorta a filler chapt i guess...if u call it that! the next one they actually go INTO the village. I think halt was a little OOC here though...idk...u decide! R&R people! **(plz)


	4. The town

**Its up! YAY! oh, and on Deviantart (where "Wills Dagger" is) you look up Mythowolf and you should be able to get to one that says "Wills Dagger" on the front! I hope you like this chapt, its longer than the others. hope you like!**

The Illness-4

Halt was shocked. No, he wasn't just shocked, he was also appalled, appalled that this village could actually have gone through….though…this _thing_. It was no longer just an illness as he, Will, and this man Carrik rode through the devastated streets of Wenham; it was like the sickness was a living, breathing, monster. A monster that was constantly breathing down their necks.

The village was a wreck. All the houses looked as if the residents were on lockdown. The only people out in the streets were pale, sickly looking, and struggling to walk back to their houses with the miniscule food in their arms. A dog on a leather rope that looked severely underfed barked at them as they rode by.

Halt glanced at Will, and saw that his face was drawn with shock and horror. Halt couldn't believe what Carrik had said to them before, 'now dealing with the _aftermath_'? 'Nobody else has gotten sick in a while'?

They soon arrived at the shabby building they called the town center, where the village leader, Samuel (as Carrik had told them) lived with his family

"Stay here, I will request for Samuel and you may negotiate afterward with him." Carrik informed Halt as he dismounted and soon disappeared through the door.

Soon after, a short, scrawny man with wild red hair came out of the building, along with Carrik, who muttered a quiet acknowledgement of "ranger" as he walked away, presumably back to the guard tower. Something just seemed…off about Samuel. He gave off an air that could only be described as creepy.

"So, ranger, I hear you are looking for supplies from out village for your trip back to your fief, Redmont. I must warn you we do not have much….but we can spare a little. All I ask is you…repay me."

"I have money, if that is what you mean, but if that is not what you want, I am afraid I do not understand." Halt replied briskly.

"No, no, money is not what I need. I must ask you kindly for the use of your…err….young….apprentice is it? Carrik clearly stated to me that you offered physical work of your apprentice for payment."

Halt eyed the man, glancing over to see that Will looked perfectly capable to do a little work. It just depended what kind of work this man, Samuel, was talking about. "And what kind of work would this be? My apprentice is no slave." He saw Will flinch at this.

"Oh no! Nooooo! Oh please ranger, I say this with great honesty, all your boy will be doing is a little…charity work for the families struck by disease while we negotiate the provisions being needed eh?"

Halt saw that Will looked completely fine with this idea, so agreed, and soon Will was being walked off to go help rebuild the houses….or at least they said that.

* * *

"So, Ranger Halt, it seems like the rain has cleared up, and we have made out decisions on the goods. Why not take a walk and I will give you information about the disease we have been so utterly devastated by. Surely, being a ranger, you would like to report to your Baron about this? Just incase it comes to your fief?" Samuel, seemingly innocently, suggested. "We could meet your young apprentice halfway, I know where they took him to….work."

Halt was thinking he really shouldn't have had Will go off with those men, Samuel just seemed to become more and more off. But Samuel had said they would meet up with Will, and inform him on this sickness. Halt had been close to bursting with questions as they talked about what supplies he needed, but being Halt, he kept his bored demeanor.

'I'm almost as bad as Will' he thought as they started on the walk that led them through the gloomy town and eventually out to the fields. As Samuel started talking the creepy, almost wrong personality went away, and was replaced by sadness, his face full of pain.

"I must say, this disease has taken a horrible toll on my people…as you may have seen already. It comes in stages; we have really got it down to a science now. But the only thing is, we simply cannot cure it. We have tried, but to no avail."

He sighed, and looked at the ground as if ashamed "we can only treat the symptoms, and hope….hope a lot. I am the village leader, and yet, I was helpless. I couldn't protect my people." He paused as they began to near toward the field, where small knolls littered the otherwise flat land. A couple of trees broke the monotonous dull fields and hills.

Samuels' eerie air came back to him once again as he spoke, "So, enough pity talk, lets get down to business. I suggest you mark what I am saying, for you…..never know when you could come across something like…..this"

Halts head nodded to let the man know he was listening. Samuel continued, "As I said before, it comes in stages. The illness strikes three days after the victim actually comes in contact with the disease; these three days the person will be drowsy, a headache, maybe stomach pains on day 3. It will seem as though the victim has a minor cold, or bug, but sadly, that is not the case."

Samuel paused yet again as they finally entered the dull fields and hills, and altered their path toward a small knoll in the distance.

"Then, it depends on the sufferer when, but usually overnight, comes the worst. This is when the first real stage starts. The symptoms are plentiful, let me assure you. Mucus in the throat, vomiting, a most horrible cough, an extremely high and dangerous fever, sweating, and if the victim has it even more severely, hallucinations. But there is one symptom that helps decide whether the disease has gotten out of the person or not, a rash. A rash that burns like hell, and if it goes away, so has the sickness."

"Then there is the second stage. They sleep a lot, almost like they are being sedated, and seem to appear calm and getting better. The vomiting almost stops completely, and the hallucinations, sweating, and most of the mucus in the throat go away. It appears that the person is getting better, but you're wrong. All it really is, is the victim not being able to fight anymore. It's a loosing battle unless the person is strong willed. But, this is also the time when the sufferer might heal. If the rash goes away, you have beaten it."

"And last, my friend, but oh most defiantly not least, is the third stage. It's like the first, but ten times worse. The victim eventually perishes from the fever, not being able to breath, and all the other symptoms. We have only been able to try and lessen the fever, and make it less painful for the unlucky person. Have you heard enough, ranger?"

Halt, however, had not been listening to that last sentence, for he was looking out at the knoll they were now about 100 meters away from. It looked as if a funeral was taking place. Then a boy, that looked oddly like Will, started carrying a small bundle up to the hilltop where the family gathered, crying on each others shoulders.

"And, might I ask," Halt said while his eyes were glued to the boy carrying the unfortunate child to the grave, trying to decipher if it was Will. Why in the world would he be there? "how do you contract this illness?"

"Ahhh, yes, thought you would ask that. Well, you simply must touch the body of a corpse of someone who died because of it and you will probably get the illness yourself." Samuel stated in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

As soon as he said this, the boy carrying the body up the knoll lifted his head. Will.

Before Samuel could take another breath he found himself slammed against a nearby tree with a saxe knife at his neck, and a beyond furious legendary ranger right behind it.

**GAH! Cliff-hanger! ...a little lol :P R&R i LOOOVVVEEE your reviews!**


	5. IM SO SORRY! :P

A/N

**GAH DON'T KILL ME!** ***puts hands in front of face to protect herself from angry viewers***

**OK, I have a LEGIT reason why it isn't up yet ok?! Me, being my usual idiot self, ACCIDENTALLY deleted the Illness 4….wait….or 5? I forget but I HAD IT ALL WRITTEN OUT AND GAH! I just HAD to be all spazzy on Sunday and click the "delete" button, when I was trying to click the "copy" button lol. **

**Alsssoooooooo, starting a new fanfic…or fanfics whatevs…..that is a collection of songfics. Mumford and Sons fans galore, cuz its gonna basically be all their songs. I just think their songs relate to RA SO FANTASTICALLY ITS SCARY! I also feel like their music is almost like poetry, not like a lot of pop. Plus they are all really hot sooooo…yeah.**

**If you are a person that frowns upon Skandia fanfics….shut your eyes and run screaming out of the room cuz its going to be ALL about that. Its just an obsession I'm currently going through (like that time period of the books) . It will be before, after, during, etc. A few, of course, might not be skandia but prob only like 2 out of a possible 20. **

**Also, not ALL will be Mumford and Sons, maybe a couple Ellie Goulding or Of Monsters and Men. **

**But be warned all Skandia/Mumford and Sons/songfic non-likers, this is all about what you hate, so I recommend you don't read it. **

**All the other people, READ IT! And any suggestions what this should be called PLZ COMMENT! I need ideas! (plus if you have a better name for the illness that would be great also, I think the name sucks)**

**So anyways, in the process of re-typing what I lost, so it will be up…..maybe 2 days. I wanted to revise it more anyway, OPTIMISM PEOPLE :D !**

**So tell me what you think about all this and GUESS WHAT!? IM GETTING GLASSES NJWCFBQREIVOBEQRIU! Maybe that's why I couldn't see I was pressing the delete button…**


	6. WHAT?

**Sometimes I say to myself…. 'why am I so idiotic?' 'why am I so obsessed with Nutella?' 'why am I not effing able to get out a measly RA chapt of a fanfic?' 'why do I always decide I like sleep better than work so I don't have time to write?' 'why do I have so many freckles?' and 'why cant RA be real?...or, why cant HALT be real?' **

**Well, I have no answers to any of these. Except that I can be extremely lazy at times. But then what's weird is then I can also be extremely energetic at times…..I'm so confusing. **

**I cannot say sorry enough. I am such a hypocrite because I HATE it when authors SAY they r going to update but then DON'T! but yet, I AM NOW THE ONE THAT IS ANNOYING YOU! And I don't like it, trust meh. **

**Sooooo, here's ur next one! Exams are coming so I'm getting caught up in studying…I HATE U EXAMS GO DIE IN A HOLE! D: **

The Illness-6 (really 5 but ya know what? I don't care)

"WHAT!?"

"All I said was you must touch the body of the corpse…..and….oh! Silly me! That's what I forgot to tell you! If the body is wrapped in blankets you will not contract it, and as you can see, that late young child is all wrapped up, snug as a bug! Also, ranger, did you even listen?" Samuel laughed as much as he could with a saxe knife pressing at his throat. "I said that all visitors to our village, even those who touched a body without coverings, have not come down with the disease. It, for some reason, stays only inside our small community."

Halt was breathing hard, wanting in every ounce of his body to kill this man. But something in Samuels' eyes stopped him. Was that….truth? He also detected a decent amount of honesty, all mixed up in the idiotic humor Samuel was thinking to be funny.

"YOU FILTH! HOW DARE YOU! Do you know who that boy even IS!?"

Samuel began to answer but Halt beat him to it.

"He" halt jabbed his free hand over to where Will was now laying the corpse down in the tiny grave "is the hero of our kingdom! Who just so _happened_ to save your unworthy life from ending!"

With that, Halt suddenly released the Samuel, making him fall to the ground massaging his throat gingerly. Halt walked quickly away, anger penetrating in every step, leaving that useless man to walk back into town alone.

As he got to the knoll, Will had just started coming down, head bowed in respect. He lifted his head as he caught sight of Halt, and waved happily. Then he saw Halts face and put a quizzical expression on "Is everything alright?"

"Its fine. We're leaving now. Get Tug and Abelard and meet me at the gate. Don't go anywhere else, just…..just wait."

Will saw the barley restrained anger, and wondered what it was about but he knew that when halt was in this mood, you don't even dare to mess with him, much less ask a question. So he hurried off.

**ok ok! Ik it's a short chapt buuuuttt the next on is a different place so I decided to divide it up.**

** Boo: I have no friggin idea how to create a link sorry! If you tell me by commenting I will!**

** Farmers daughter: I think you asked about Wills dagger….look above and see if you can helllpppp meeeeee!**

** Writer-born-from-the-shadows: HERE IT IS DNJERWQOJNREOVBN CQWHWVHW! Woo! Ok…next one coming ON TIME OK? And I hope your questions were answered**

** Dawnfire11: thankkkkkssssss for reviewing! Hope you got ur answers!**


	7. Samuel

**So these last few weeks (cough months cough) I basically fell from the face of the earth….and im trying to get back into a normal lifestyle now. I just moved less than a week ago so it has been hectic studying for comprehensive exams, packing, and all that stuff. **

**I'm not trying to make an excuse or anything its my fault I haven't updated in a long time. I have also gotten sucked into the world of Les Miserables, and I FRIGGIN LOVE THAT MOVIE SO MUCH AH! Well….anyway, I'm lengthening the update to every 2 weeks. **

**I'm gonna try and revise it more so its less cheesy and badly written, cuz I know it is…but I just get lazy, and that, my friends, is what im REALLY working on :p **

**This chappie is EXTREMELY short but I decided it deserved its own chapter plus I just wanna get SOMETHING out there. I think it's better written than all of the others.**

The Illness-The First Day

Samuel watched asthe two rangers became less and less prominent on the landscape, and couldn't help but feel a small flame of guilt that had suddenly ignited inside him after the boy left the funeral at the hill.

He knew it was wrong.

Wrong to hurt the innocent in spite of the ranger race.

But it really wasn't HIS fault, was it? No. That couldn't be.

That idiot ranger, Sadon, and the whole Ranger breed, was the one at fault. For if the imbecile had been quicker like Samuel thought the Rangers were supposed to be, his family might not have been slaughtered mercilessly by petty road thieves. His wife, his…. _children_, would still be with him.

At the thought of this, anger suddenly overcame the guilt and flooded his whole being. 'The boy deserves this', the thought angrily as his harsh grip on the windowsill made his knuckles whiten, 'for being one of _them_'.

As Samuel quickly turned and stalked off from the window, his anger calmed and guilt rekindled its flame….

**HEHEHHEHE foreshadowing…**

**I really don't need to hear the 'where the bloody hell were you' on the reviews (no I'm not british) cuz trust me, I know I've been a horrible author lately. I get it. **

**So lets be real. I'll probably update in 3 weeks instead of 2. Not gonna lie tp myself or you anymore.**


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